Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Braver souls than I have tried their predictions for the coming year, but, honestly, I don't have any really original preditctions. Blizzard will try their darndest to get three content patches out, but the next expansion won't be out til 2010. They will have to do something to encourage alts that aren't DK's - I've predicted that all characters will be allowed to start at 55 sometime in 2009. And, beyond that, I've got nothing.

What I can do is write up some resolutions for things that I'd like to do in 2009.

World of Warcraft1. Finish the major level 80 reputations on my main. 2. Gear up my main to somewhere in the ilvl 200 epic level.3. Complete each 5-man at least once, perhaps on heroic. 4. Obtain some heirloom items for alts (top priorities are a pair of daggers and leather shoulders for my rogue, perhaps some goodies for the Warlock, and maybe plate shoulders for the Pally).5. Buy a motorcycle for my hunter. (I ordinarily don't spend anywhere near that kind of money on an alt, but that's the character I play with my wife, and she will love being driven around places. :)) 6. Work on misc achievements, especially the holiday ones. 7. Finish at least one additional level 80 character. Not sure whether the Rogue, the Pally, or the Horde Warrior is the most likely candidate for my second 80, but I'd like to have one.

Other Games8. Try out EQ2, which seems to keep appearing on people's "games that aren't WoW that you're missing out on" lists. 9. Give Turbine a few more patches to flesh out Moria and then visit LOTRO to get Allarond up to level 60 and see the sights. 10. Send good vibes in the direction of Mythic so they can keep improving Warhammer - perhaps even give the game another shot somewhere down the road if there's time amidst all this other stuff.

Player vs Developer11. Continue to blog about all of the above. 12. Write at least 200 posts (this is number 176 of the blog since its start in April, but I don't want to overcommit), with a goal of having my 400th post up in 2009. 13. Thank all my readers.

To get a head start on that last one, Happy New Year from Player vs Developer, and thanks to all of you for reading! :)

Blizzard would certainly like for heirlooms and faster leveling to kickstart leveling alts, but I think they're going to find that most people aren't going to take them up on it.

With just one class able to start at level 55 (with an epic ground mount and gear that you might not fully replace before Northrend), we're going to see an increasing shift where people who have just one alt make it a Death Knight. That could become a serious population issue for Blizzard down the line - the only way I could see them getting around it would be to blitz development of the next expansion, with its presumptive healer hero class, and hope that at least some of the DK's can tank while the new guys heal.

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About Player Versus Developer

I'm what they call a "WoW Tourist" - WoW was my first MMO, and being able to set my own schedule is a dealbreaker. At any given time, I can be found ducking in and out of half a dozen different MMO's.

This blog details some of my own personal exploits, but it also focuses on a meta-gaming issue that I find very interesting - the decisions developers make on how to reward player activity, and the decisions players make in response to maximize their own rewards.